Penske buys Saturn

[Boreas]

Hi, everyone. First post here.

Originally Posted by Bigerik

Penske's bright idea was to have Nissan use it's excess capacity to build the new "saturns". GM was never gonna play a part in it in the long term.

Another report was that Penske had approached Renault (which owns 40 odd percent of Nissan) as his manufacturing partner. Whoever it was, they didn't bite so Roger was left without a source for vehicles once GM shut the lines down next year.

As far as government involvement in the auto industry, the Japanese have been doing it for 50 years, and it has worked just fine for them. Certainly no free market in Japan.

And, speaking of Renault, the French government had a stake that company it until 1996 when they re-privatized it. The government intervened in the early '80s to stave off Renault's imminent collapse. The directors they appointed turned the company around.

Just as with the Swedish banking system, temporary nationalization of key industries can work wonders if done correctly.

John